Guilty Bits Xrd: Ky

General style
Ky is the Ryu of Guilty Gear. He is simple to use, and doesn’t require hard execution. A jack of all trades and master of none, his general plan isn’t unique, as he simply does a little bit of everything – Space control, block pressure, mixups, and okizeme. But don’t let his simplicity deceive you, Ky is extremely strong and rewarding at high levels of play.

1. Neutral: Pokes, Space control, far range converting
Ky controls space with his long normals and projectiles. You can convert almost any hit into solid damage and/or a knockdown.

Ground normals:
f.S – Fast, long ranged and can be easily confirmed into Stun Dipper (236K). This allows you to get a knockdown even from max range. Make sure to practice this confirm as 236K is unsafe on block. At mid to far ranges, f.S > 3H combos against a crouching opponent or on counter hit, and leads to big damage.

2S – Fast, long ranged low. Similar in function to f.S, slightly faster but shorter.

2D – Fast, long ranged sweep. It remains active for a very long time and can catch opponents who try to whiff punish.

Air normals:
j.P – Fastest air normal. Use as air-to-air.

j.K – Slightly slower than j.P but has better range. Use as air-to-air.

j.S – Fast air-to-ground. Gatlings into j.P for a multi-hitting jump-in. Very strong immediately after a delayed forward air tech – just watch out for anti-airs!

j.H – Slow air-to-ground with a very large hitbox.

Special moves:
Stun Edge (236S) and Air Stun Edge (j.236S/H) – Ky’s ground and air projectiles are good to harass from afar. Air versions differ by angle and both have very long landing recovery, so make sure you don’t whiff.

Stun Edge YRC – Gives you a free opportunity for offense. Its main goal is to condition the opponent to either block it or try to evade via the air. Both are unfavorable positions to be in.

Grinders – 5D, j.D and Split Ciel (236D) generate grinders. Shooting projectiles through them grants you access to more powerful versions of all Stun Edge variations. The regular projectiles (236S, j.236S/H) become instant travel beams that eat other projectiles and knock down on counter hit. Charged Stun Edge (236H) becomes a large, multi-hit stationary beam and is used almost exclusively for okizeme setups.

Stun Dipper (236K) – Fast, low profile slide that knocks down on the second hit. Can be used on reaction to go under and punish certain moves. Extremely unsafe on block. Can be used more frequently if you have the meter to RRC / PRC.

2. Offense: Pressure, close range converting, mixups and okizeme
At close range your main pressure tools are 2P (+2 on block) and 2K (even on block, low, better range than 2P).
Your main threat up close is 2P into low or throw. Both grant knockdown and throw can be converted to corner carry and damage with RRC.

Greed Sever (214K) – Overhead. Extremely unsafe on block. It has a big flashy animation and the farther you are the longer it takes to hit so it’s considered an easy move to block. On the plus side it can come out at almost any point of a blockstring so you can go for a surprise overhead. Use sparingly.

Pressure extenders:
6K – Main pressure extender. Slow to come out but advantageous on block (+4) and allows you to reset pressure. It moves you forward so use it to close distance gaps during a blockstring.

Delayed Stun Edge YRC – A strong bait tool used after normals that usually end your pressure such as 2D, f.S or 5H.

6H – Very slow to come out but if the opponent keeps blocking it’s a free pressure reset. Use sparingly.

Okizeme:
6H – Hits twice and very advantageous on block.

5K – Standing low. Time it correctly for a strong meaty and continue to pressure.

Charged Stun Edge (236H) – A big multi-hit projectile that forces the opponent to block. Either with or without a grinder.

In the corner, ending a combo with 6K > 236D > (Dash) 2D > 236H is Ky’s optimal okizeme setup which forces your opponent to block for a long time and allows you to go for a strong meterless mixup of late airdash j.S > j.H or land and hit low. This setup still works mid-screen but will require 236H YRC for a true mixup.

3. Defense: Anti-airs, fending off pressure, and reversals
Anti-airs:
6P – Primary anti-air and has upper-body invincibility. Can also used in neutral to beat high hitting, long ranged moves such as f.S.

2H – Slower than 6P and has no upper-body invincibility. By utilizing it’s huge hitbox you can catch opponents who keep themselves outside of 6P’s range. Floats on counter-hit and leads to big damage and corner carry.

Rising j.P / j.K – Both are fast and can beat slow or predictable jump-in attempts.

Fending off pressure:
2P – Can be used to interrupt during pressure gaps. Especially strong after instant block.

Backdash – Fully Invincible from frames 1-9 and travels far. Use it during large pressure gaps or predictable okizeme attempts.

Reversals:
Vapor Thrust (623H) – Fully Invincible from frames 1-10. Extremely unsafe on block and whiffs against low-profile moves. Be careful and choose the right moment to use it. Can be used more frequently if you have the meter to RRC.

Ride The Lightning (632146H) – Fully invincible from frames 1-25. Unsafe on block. Slower than Vapor Thrust but beats low profile moves. Travels full screen and can be used to escape the corner.